Southwest China's Autonomous Region of Tibet registered 23.1 billion yuan (2.96 billion U.S. dollars) in fixed-assets investment in 2006, a growth of 17.8 percent on the previous year, regional government sources said on Saturday.

This is the first time the region's fixed-assets investment has broken the 20-billion-yuan mark, the sources said.

Most of the money came from the Central Government, and a smaller proportion from governments of other parts of China and from the local government.

The region's gross domestic product, or GDP, is estimated at 20.9 billion yuan (2.68 billion U.S. dollars) for 2006, up 13.2 percent year on year. The growth rate is a record for the last decade, the sources said, adding that the region's annual fiscal revenue is estimated at 1.5 billion yuan (192.3 million U.S. dollars).

The buoyant economy has helped improve Tibet's infrastructure.

On July 1 last year, the 1,956-km Qinghai-Tibet railway began operation, ending the region's history of no railways and linking it more closely with other parts of China. The project provides travelers with cheaper and safer access to the Roof of the World.

Two months later, Nyingchi Airport, Tibet's third after Lhasa and Qamdo, went into operation, making it easier to get to the spectacular grand canyon of Yalu Tsangpo River, which flows into the Bramaputra River in India.

Meanwhile, several highways, including the one linking China and Nepal and the Tibet-Sichuan, Tibet-Xinjiang and Tibet-Yunnan highways have all been upgraded.

These operations have boosted tourism in Tibet.

In 2006 the region recorded an estimated total of 2.45 million entries from home and abroad, a growth of 36 percent. The tourism sector took in 2.7 billion yuan (346.2 million U.S. dollars) in revenue, up 39.5 percent.

The improved infrastructure in Tibet has also attracted investors, local government sources said.

Last year the region absorbed 4.8 billion yuan (615.4 million U.S. dollars) of investment from local private investors and investors from other parts of China, up 47.1 percent.

Source: Xinhua